Barbara, may I caution you not to till the grass with your new tiller. You will have grass in the soil that will hound you for the next seven years. (That is a Farmer's Almanac claim, and who is to question the old farmer?).

If you have some strong, young, ambitious people who are willing to take up the sod and remove it, you will have fine soil with which to work, with only an occasional grass root or seed that sprouts.

One option is to use the sod somewhere it is wanted, or turn the sod upside down into a pile, cover it with black plastic and let it decompose into the nicest soil you could ever want. You just have to kill those grass roots and seeds.

Sorry about your mosquito hell Randy. I hate those buggers! I've been on top of hills before where there was no standing water that I could detect for a mile, and still been covered with them the instant I stopped moving. Uggg!

I could put-up with all the critters eating my garden in the country, but not mosquitoes! That's why if I move to a warmer climate, it will be to another dry one.

Ruth, I adopted Lily in late June at 7 lbs. thinking she was a maltese mix and 6 mos. old.. I quickly learned she was NOT maltese, but a 4 mo. old Chinese Crested Powder Puff mix - the mix being who knows what but her behavior indicates Jack Russell Terrier. She is now 15.2 lbs and a very stubborn, feisty, and lovable piece of work! Chews on my plants, digs holes, caught and killed a cowbird, has left her "mark" on door frames, chairs, bookcase, recliner, cell phone charger, and probably other things I don't even know about. Rescue dogs are the Best!